Enclosed Hut Group South West of Cae'r Mynydd

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The site consists of an oval or sub-rectangular stone-walled enclosure dating to the Iron Age/Romano British period. Within the enclosure, several round and sub-rectangular buildings are grouped together around a central 'courtyard' and all are joined to the enclosure wall. Outside the enclosure, a little to the E, is an isolated circular hut.

The site is on a gentle slope and has been levelled slightly. The enclosure wall and parts of the huts are massively built, employing large boulders, sometimes set as orthostats. There is a clear entrance on the W side. The outer hut seems slighter, but has not been excavated, so this may be deceptive.

The enclosure was partially excavated in 1949 and 1955 and not backfilled, so that the wall height appears quite impressive, and a semi-subterranean character is given, or enhanced, by spoil piled on top of the walls. The whole of the surrounding area is patterned with linked field systems, or one large one, part of which must relate to this site, though there is a long hut settlement not far away which is presumably later in date and the field system of which may have modified the prehistoric one. The excavations produced Roman pottery but also indicated earlier settlement on the site. The proximity of other broadly contemporary features enhance its group value.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric settlement. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The structures themselves may be expected to contain archaeological information concerning chronology and building techniques.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.